HAVERSTRAW
– Village policy have reason to smile more often these
days.
That’s because the five-month-long renovation of the
Maple Avenue police station is completed, except for a couple
of doors and some interior wood trim.
“The officers aver very happy,” Sgt. Claudio Gatti
said. “We’re no longer embarrassed to bring people
in here. ”Office Rebecca Ruiz is especially happy. The
department’s lone woman officer doesn’t have to
change in a bathroom anymore. |
She
now has a locker room. The department’s 20 male officers
have a new locker room as well.
The interior was gutted last summer for the renovations and
the police were housed in a trailer in the parking lot in
the interim. They moved back into their headquarters at the
rear of Village Hall two weeks ago.
Village Trustee and Police Commissioner Michael Kohut said
the upgrading was sorely needed.
The station remained pretty much the same since Village Hall
was built in 1935, Kohut said. It was built under the Works
Progress |
Administration,
a federal program funded by then-President Franklin Roosevelt,
and then renovated 20 years ago.
“We’ve
finally brought the police station to modern times,”
he said.
The construction was done by Montana Construction of Nyack.
The architect was George Rusciano of Congers.
This renovation was funded with bond money left over from
renovations to Village Hall two years ago and the village’s
decision last fall to |
borrow
$100,000 to cover unexpected costs.
The total cost of the project was about $215,000, which includes
a new central command center and furniture, Kohut said. He
said about $15,000 remains from the renovation funding. Kohut
said the village board of trustees hasn’t yet decided
what to do with the surplus money. |
